The Aftershock Investor Book Review

Inflation is a concern for investors. Inflation fears are heightened in the United States whenever the U.S. Government starts printing money excessively. These concerns are addressed in the book The Aftershock Investor: A Crash Course in Staying Afloat in a Sinking Economy by David Wiedemer, Robert A. Wiedemer and Cindy S. Spitzer. The book seems written to clarify what investments should be made by an investor in a rising inflation environment.

The authors believe that the U.S. has been in a bubble economy. They write that four bubbles have popped and two more are set to pop in the future. They believe that high inflation and high interest rates will occur when the last two bubbles pop. Those bubbles are the United States' government debt and the U.S. Dollar valuation.

To be honest I really didn't like this book. One thing that I disliked was the authors frequent advertising of their services. It gave the impression that they simply wanted the reader to use their services. A lot of the book was dedicated to past history and was vague on the future. The authors feel sure high inflation is coming and that stocks will do terribly. Yet they still recommend stocks for the short term. They believe you will need to actively manage your investments and make frequent changes. Yet they do not divulge what the future changes will be or how to look for clues to those changes. They simply put in a mention of their services.

I do like some of the investments they do recommend. High-dividend stocks, short term treasuries and Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) are all good investments. Gold is another investment they recommend. Gold has spiked for short bursts of time in history. It then has fallen back. For example, this occurred in the 1970's to 1980's. Gold purchased well ahead of the peak in 1980 would have produced a nice gain. However, gold purchased too close to the spike lost value. Also of note is that gold fell once the Federal Reserve started raising interest rates. Since 2004 gold has been rising dramatically. Where it goes is anyone's guess. However, history shows that it is wise to be cautious.

I cannot recommend The Aftershock Investor. I would suggest that if you believe inflation is coming you could trust a few of the investments they recommend. However, I think the book does a disservice to readers. It would have been more informative to advise investors how to actively change their portfolios going forward. Instead, the emphasis on the authors' newsletter and consulting services came off as a marketing ploy pushed by a lot of fear, doom and gloom. A suggestion to readers: take the few kernels of good information and ignore the rest.